American Fighting Uniforms Of The Vietnam War -
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, was a Cold War military conflict that
may be said to have occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from September 26, 1959 to April 30,
1975. The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies,
and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist
nations.

The American fighting uniform saw a great deal of changes during the Vietnam war. This period
represents the most advances in the field since WWII. This page is provides a comprehensive
study of the time period.

This section is dedicated to documenting the US fatigues employed by various branches of the service
during the vietnam conflict. Fortunatelly for the collector, most of these uniforms are still fairly easy to
obtain and are still inexpensive. An exception to this rule would be any special forces uniforms or the early
war fatigues. These items can command much higher prices.
The Vietnam war witnessed the use of non-rip popplin for the first time. This material is very light weight,
allows air circulation and is composed of a threaded grid that helps top the cloth from ripping once a cut has
occurred. The uniforms worked particularly well in the heat of the jungle.
This information is brought to you free of charge by MilitaryItems.com,
the source for military antiques and collectibles from various time periods and countries.

This section of the website provides an in-depth analysis of the military uniforms employed
by the United States armed forces during the Vietnam war.

This information is brought to you courtesy of
MilitaryItems.com ,
the source for military antiques and collectibles.

US COMBAT UNIFORMS OF THE VIETNAM WAR

The combat uniforms employed by the United States during the Vietnam war were a whole new
breed of uniforms. The tropical heat of the area demanded a different type of material.
One of the most notable differences from other conflicts were the use of slanted front
pockets. A type of camouflage known as ERDL was also introduced in large quantities.

This section of the page divides the uniforms in sateen ( which was a leftover from the
Korean war), Slant pocket (refers to the Olive Drab shirt with slanted pockets, comes in
poplin and rip-stop) and ERDL (which refers to the rip-stop camouflage patter. Initially
used by the US Marinesa and later adopted by the army and air force.)

Some of the uniforms remained in use even after the next generation came out. That is the
case for th sateen shirt and pants. They saw service until the 1980's.

The dress uniform employed by the United Stated military during the Vietnam war were
considerably different from those used during the Korean war. The use of heavy wool
was eliminated from the US Army and Air Force clothing. The design developed in the
1960's has remained virtually untouched clear into the first decade of the 2000's.

Camouflage clothing was not widely available during the early days of the Vietnam war.
Alot of the clothing were left overs from the Korean War. Those uniforms were not well suited
for the combat needs of South East Asia. As a result, soldiers were allowed to purchase their
own uniforms at sporting goods stores in the US. The type of camouflage pattern sold there
was known as "Duck Hunter" because of its intended use by hunting community.

Another set of special uniforms introduced during the conflict were knonw as "tiger stripes".
No one knows for sure where the pattern was originated. The style became quite popular among the
American special forces.

Aviation played a pivital role during the Vietnam war. Helicopters were the backbone for
many of theoperations. In addition, bombers, jet fighters, trasporters and scout aircrafts
were invaluable for waging war. Along with these aircraft came the development of flight
suits for pilots and crew members.

The following section displays a series of flight related clothing. The information is
displayed in chronological order and an attempt is made to group similar things
together.